One by One

We have reached an important milestone.

The Amway One by One Campaign for Children has been transforming lives for 10 years.

What started as a corporate initiative in 2003 has become a grassroots movement of Amway distributors and employees helping children around the world. While Amway affiliates build alliances with local partners, it is the 3 million distributors and 20,000 employees who have helped us to bring our efforts for children to scale.

At the end of 2012, we have counted 10 million children who have been positively impacted through Amway One by One.

Actions include building hospital playrooms in Russia, enabling better nutrition at schools in rural China, providing customized bikes for children with disabilities in Australia, constructing homes in Guatemala and mentoring urban youth in the United States. There are more examples in every region where Amway does business.

Amway One by One has always been about inspiring and encouraging individual actions for children in need. Now, looking back over ten years, we see a beautiful mosaic of hope, inspiration and generosity.

Thanks to everyone who has joined Amway to build better lives for children in our communities.

This year, we celebrate these accomplishments and recognize the work of so many Amway people. But we also challenge ourselves to deepen our efforts, and will close the year with a demonstration of collective support for children in need, around the world.

Our global review concludes in Southeast Asia, where the work for children is as diverse as the many Amway markets in that region.

Amway Australia continued to roll out the partnerships identified during its 40^th anniversary celebration year, featuring programs like neonatal equipment donations, sports equipment for children with special needs (delivered by cricket superstar Adam Gilchrist), and therapy for children with Autism. Amway distributors on an incentive trip to Fiji also took time to help renovate a flood damaged school, with more than 300 participating.

A partnership in Indonesia that started six years ago was still going strong in 2012. After a devastating earthquake struck a remote area in 2006, Amway Indonesia partnered with local employees and distributors to focus on rebuilding two elementary schools. The partnership continues to last, as Amway employees and distributors support the ongoing education at these two schools, providing uniforms, books and shoes for the students, and visiting once each year.

In Malaysia, Amway leaders launched a new partnership to help children in remote areas learn through the act of play, using musical therapy. An organization called Hands Percussion started the Balik Kampung (Homecoming) as a way to support local communities. Amway distributors are taking part as both volunteers and contributors to make the program a success.

Amway Philippines celebrated its 15 year anniversary and marked the occasion by reading and telling stories to young students to improve their literacy skills, and to build a passion for reading. Over the past several years, Amway Philippines has donated books and mobilized volunteers to read and tell stories.

Amway Singapore continued its support of the Singapore Children’s Society to enhance self-esteem, improve math skills, explore personal interests and translate life values into daily values for young children.

Two innovative programs were launched in Thailand last year, both focused on literacy. The first utilized a phone app to allow users to send books to remote areas of the country. The second was a mobile library, 70 of them to be exact, that were sent to schools across the country by Amway.

In Vietnam, Amway extended its support for children with health care needs by partnering with the government to provide medical aid, educational support, vocational and agricultural training in the economically challenged Thanh Hoa province.

Expect to see more in 2013, with some big announcements coming later this week!

Pop quiz: what were the first 2 Amway products?

Of course, they were L.O.C. Multi-Purpose Cleaner and SA8 Concentrated Detergent.

Building on this legacy, Amway Singapore created the Amway Enrichment fund to help children through the sale of these pioneering product brands.

For the purchase of every LOC and SA8 (750g), Amway Singapore donates $2 to the Singapore Children’s Society to support children’s centers across the country.

Through these donations, children receive programs to enhance self esteem, improve math skills, explore personal interests and translate life values into daily values.

This isn’t just a one-time donation. While the fund started in 2009, Amway Singapore has partnered with the Singapore Children’s Society since we started doing business in Singapore in 2002.

… 2 products, $2 at a time, 20 year partnership … and more ahead!

Thanks to Audrey Chow Miew Ling and Kyle Van Andel for sharing this story.

Three years ago, we decided to give the Amway One by One Campaign for Children a boost by scaling up or creating new programs in 27 countries.

Then we waited and watched.

This week, we’ve been compiling stories, statistics and photos for internal reporting. And we can’t help but be surprised by the creativity and profound impact these programs have had.

Once again, when we act, people react, and show their heart.

Here are a few examples … and there are many more than space would allow:

• 7 new gardens at Boys & Girls in the US
• 15 schools supplied with libraries, computers and Amway volunteer teachers in China
• 8 camps that teach life skills to teenage orphans as they transition to independence in the Ukraine
• 57 orphanages “adopted” by Amway and its distributors across India
• 250 stories made available digitally to visually impaired children in Thailand
• 4 new enrichment programs for abused and neglected children in Singapore
• 2 hot meals each day for a school full of children who may otherwise not be eating in South Africa
• 100,000 orange ribbons collected along with donations that raise awareness of child abuse in Japan
• 2,500 procedures each month at a children’s hospital for low income families in Brazil

We can’t wait to tell these stories on the blog. Stay tuned!